Judge Wilson Verástegui Gálvez ordered the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) to proceed with the immediate release of Major EP (r) Telmo Hurtado Hurtado, who is serving a sentence for the murder of 69 peasants in Accomarca, Ayacucho, in 1985.
The judicial decision is based on a request for release that the criminal himself presented, claiming to have complied with the sentence for murder, clarifying that he was not convicted for other crimes that force him to remain in prison.
Since the August 14, 1985 Telmo Hurtado organized, ordered and executed 69 children, including 26 childrenhas received protection from the authorities and fled the country under the Amnesty Law of the dictator Alberto Fujimori.
Known as “The Butcher of the Andes”, he was finally extradited from the United States where he was hiding and was sentenced to 23 years in prison in September 2016.
According to the judicial resolution, Telmo Hurtado was sentenced for murder and acquitted of the crimes of kidnapping and disappearance, so he was due to leave on February 6, 2026.
YOU CAN SEE: Telmo Hurtado on the massacre of 26 children in Accomarca: ‘I have been determined to eliminate them’
One of the victims’ relatives, Justa Chuchón Tecsi, told The Republic his complete rejection of the judicial decision.
“For criminals like Telmo Hurtado, justice is quick“But for us family members it is not like that, because to date we have not received any type of reparation for the massacre,” declared Justa Chuchón Gamboa, niece of one of the 69 victims, Filomeno Chuchón Tecsi, and survivor of the carnage committed by the military under Hurtado’s orders.
“The penitentiary authority notes an inconsistency between the initial detention order and the final sentence. According to the INPE, on May 31, 2005, the registration of a detention order was ordered against Telmo Hurtado Hurtado for the crimes of kidnapping and forced disappearance to the detriment of Severino Baldeón Palacios and others (murdered in Accomarca). However, In the conviction dated August 31, 2016 and its subsequent execution, there is no condemnatory pronouncement. for said criminal types with respect to the aforementioned aggrieved parties,” argues Judge Wilson Verástegui Gálvez.
“He (Telmo Hurtado) was convicted specifically as the perpetrator of the crime of murder against Filomeno Chuchón Tecsi (and other Accomarca farmers). It follows that, although the process was opened for kidnapping and forced disappearance, these charges did not lead to a final conviction, either due to lack of merit for the trial or because they were not the subject of the final prosecutor’s accusation,” he points out.
The magistrate also cites that on February 12 and 24, 2025, he reformed the calculation of the sentence imposed on Hurtado, so the 23-year sentence ends on February 6 of this year.
Unless Telmo Hurtado faces other ongoing accusations, he will be released, concludes Judge Wilso Verástegui Gálvez.
During the Fujimori government, Telmo Hurtado He was reinstated in the Army. When he perpetrated the events, he was a lieutenant and was promoted to the rank of major and decorated by the institution. Then, the same regime granted him amnesty in 1999, despite the seriousness of the homicide he committed during the internal armed conflict.
“It’s outrageous, it’s an outrage. These criminals are not heroes and the world should learn about that*, stated Justa Chuchón Gamboa. She witnessed the murders. She was just a girl. During a court hearing in the United States, to support Hurtado’s extradition, Justa Chuchón gave devastating testimony about what happened.
“Society, the people, the politicians, the congressmen, think that soldiers like Hurtado are heroes. But Hurtado and others like him killed our relatives, one by one“, stated Justa Chuchón.
During an interrogation by a congressional investigative commission in 1985, Telmo Hurtado justified the death of 26 children. He falsely accused them, like their parents, of being a member of Sendero Luminoso. He never provided evidence of the accusation.
“As I repeat, one cannot measure that this child is a dangerous element for one. Or not (he is). One does not know if he may have a load of dynamite, a weapon stored. It is not known. As I say, they use any means to try to cause casualties,” Hurtado told the congressmen.
YOU CAN SEE: TC rejects General Mori Orzo’s appeal to annul Accomarca’s conviction
“There are others who have not been imprisoned for a day”
- “The judicial resolution is justified because it is true that Telmo Hurtado was sentenced to 23 years in prison only for the crime of murder,” explained IDL’s lawyer, Carlos Rivera.
- “It should have been more years, but according to the sentence that was in force around 1998, they applied almost the maximum sentence,” he indicated.
- “One could say that it is not a fair sentence, but the main problem is that one of the main people responsible for the case, like General EP Wilfredo Mori Orzo, who was the leader and gave the order, is a fugitive. He has never spent a single day in prison, as has happened with Telmo Hurtado,” noted lawyer Rivera.
